Press Releases:

HRC: Secretary Perdue’s Attack on LGBTQ Kids is Inexcusable

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in response to news that the Trump-Pence White House and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue are attacking LGBTQ youth by pressuring the national 4-H youth organization to rescind a policy welcoming LGBTQ participants.

The request demands “any and all records, including but not limited to letters, memos, emails, text messages, phone records, budget requests or estimates, and other documents related to the Trump administration pushing the national 4-H youth organization to withdraw a policy welcoming LGBTQ members.”

On Sunday, the Des Moines Registerreported that the move, made by Heidi Green, then chief-of-staff to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, eventually led to the firing of Iowa 4-H Director John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas for vigorously defending the LGBTQ-inclusive policy. Chaisson-Cardenas is the first statewide Latino director in the organization’s history.

“For over a century, the national 4-H youth program has taught tens of millions of children the importance of character and community,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “This latest action by the Trump-Pence Administration is an unnecessary and cruel attack on LGBTQ youth that seeks to destroy community rather than create it. It is unconscionable that the anti-LGBTQ discrimination under this president has now inexplicably expanded into the Department of Agriculture. We are determined to get answers on how this came about and demand that Congress protect LGBTQ youth from this callous attack.”

The national 4-H (“head, heart, hands, and health”) youth program was created by Congress through the 1914 Smith-Lever Act, formalizing regional programs that began in the Midwest to teach character and community to young people. Since then, tens of millions of young people in America have participated in 4-H, learning invaluable life skills and developing a strong civic interest that benefits themselves and their communities.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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Phone: (202) 628-4160
Fax: (202) 347-5323

To contact HRC please visit our contact us page. If you are a member of the media, you can reach our press office at: (202) 572-8968 or email press@hrc.org.

5 Things to Know about LGBTQ Issues

1. There are roughly 10 million LGBTQ adults in the U.S., or roughly 4.1 percent of the population.

2. Sixteen percent of same-sex couples are raising children according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 Current Population Survey.

3. There is no federal law that consistently protects LGBTQ individuals from employment discrimination; there are no state laws in 28 states that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in 30 states that do so based on gender identity.

4. More than 50 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed in 19 state legislatures in the 2017 state legislative session.

5. The FBI reported 1,167 hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity in 2015. This is likely a dramatic undercount since thousands of agencies didn't submit any data and reporting is not mandatory.